Capital Dames: The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848-1868

With the outbreak of the Civil War, the small, social, Southern town of Washington, DC, found itself caught between warring sides in a four-year battle that would determine the future of the United States. After the declaration of secession, many fascinating Southern women left the city, leaving their friends - such as Adele Cutts Douglas and Elizabeth Blair Lee - to grapple with questions of safety and sanitation as the capital was transformed into an immense Union army camp and later a hospital.

We Are Our Mothers' Daughters: Revised and Expanded Edition

In this 10th anniversary edition, renowned political commentator Cokie Roberts once again examines the nature of women's roles. From mother to mechanic, sister to soldier, Roberts reveals how much progress has now been made and how much further we have to go. Updated and expanded to include a diverse new cast of women, including Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, Billie Jean King, and others, this collection of essays offers tremendous insight into the opportunities and challenges that women encounter today.

Abigail Adams

Abigail Adams offers a fresh perspective on the famous events of Adams's life, and along the way, Woody Holton, a renowned historian of the American Revolution, takes on numerous myths about the men and women of the founding era. But the book also demonstrates that domestic dramas---from unplanned pregnancies to untimely deaths---could be just as heartbreaking, significant, and inspiring as the actions of statesmen and soldiers.

Worst. President. Ever.: James Buchanan, the POTUS Rating Game, and the Legacy of the Least of the Lesser Presidents

Worst. President. Ever. flips the great presidential biography on its head, offering an enlightening - and highly entertaining - account of poor James Buchanan's presidency to prove once and for all that, well, few leaders could have done worse. But author Robert Strauss does much more, leading listeners out of Buchanan's terrible term in office to explore with insight and humor his own obsession with presidents, and ultimately the entire notion of ranking our presidents.

America's First Daughter: A Novel

In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, best-selling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson's eldest daughter, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph - a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy.

Conscience of a Conservative: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle

In a bold act of conscience, Republican Senator Jeff Flake takes his party to task for embracing nationalism, populism, xenophobia, and the anomalous Trump presidency. The book is an urgent call for a return to bedrock conservative principle and a cry to once again put country before party.

Under This Roof: The White House and the Presidency - 21 Presidents, 21 Rooms, 21 Inside Stories

In Under This Roof, award-winning White House journalist Paul Brandus weaves together stories of the presidents, their families, the events of their time, and an oft-ignored major character, the White House itself. From George Washington to the current occupant, Barack Obama - the story of the White House is the story of America itself, Brandus writes.

Al Franken, Giant of the Senate

Al Franken, Giant of the Senate is a book about an unlikely campaign that had an even more improbable ending: the closest outcome in history and an unprecedented eight-month recount saga, which is pretty funny in retrospect. It's a book about what happens when the nation's foremost progressive satirist gets a chance to serve in the United States Senate and, defying the low expectations of the pundit class, actually turns out to be good at it.

James Madison: A Life Reconsidered

This majestic new biography of James Madison explores the astonishing story of a man of vaunted modesty who audaciously changed the world. Among the Founding Fathers, Madison was a true genius of the early republic. Outwardly reserved, Madison was the intellectual driving force behind the Constitution and crucial to its ratification. His visionary political philosophy and rationale for the union of states - so eloquently presented in The Federalist papers - helped shape the country Americans live in today.

Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race

Before John Glenn orbited the Earth or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets and astronauts into space. Among these problem solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation.

The Hidden Lives of Tudor Women: A Social History

The Tudor period conjures up images of queens and noblewomen in elaborate court dress, of palace intrigue and dramatic politics. But if you were a woman, it was also a time when death during childbirth was rife, when marriage was usually a legal contract, not a matter for love, and the education you could hope to receive was minimal at best. Yet the Tudor century was also dominated by powerful and dynamic women in a way that no era had been before.

The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For

Over the course of his distinguished career, David McCullough has spoken before Congress, colleges and universities, historical societies, and other esteemed institutions. Now, at a time of self-reflection in America following a bitter election campaign that has left the country divided, McCullough has collected some of his most important speeches in a brief volume designed to identify important principles and characteristics that are particularly American.

John Adams

McCullough's John Adams has the sweep and vitality of a great novel. This is history on a grand scale, an audiobook about politics, war, and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, it is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.

First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies

In one of the most underestimated - and challenging - positions in the world, the first lady of the United States must be many things: an inspiring leader with a forward-thinking agenda of her own; a savvy politician, skilled at navigating the treacherous rapids of Washington; a wife and mother operating under constant scrutiny; and an able CEO responsible for the smooth operation of countless services and special events at the White House.

What Happened

For the first time, Hillary Rodham Clinton reveals what she was thinking and feeling during one of the most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections in history. Now free from the constraints of running, Hillary takes you inside the intense personal experience of becoming the first woman nominated for president by a major party in an election marked by rage, sexism, exhilarating highs and infuriating lows, stranger-than-fiction twists, Russian interference, and an opponent who broke all the rules. This is her most personal memoir yet.

The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness

In this lively and compelling biography, Harlow Giles Unger reveals the dominant political figure of a generation. A fierce fighter in four critical Revolutionary War battles and a courageous survivor of Valley Forge and a near-fatal wound at the Battle of Trenton, James Monroe (1751 - 1831) went on to become America's first full-time politician, dedicating his life to securing America's national and international durability.

Alexander Hamilton

Ron Chernow, whom the New York Times called "as elegant an architect of monumental histories as we've seen in decades", now brings to startling life the man who was arguably the most important figure in American history, who never attained the presidency, but who had a far more lasting impact than many who did.

A Piece of the World: A Novel

To Christina Olson, the entire world was her family's remote farm in the small coastal town of Cushing, Maine. Born in the home her family had lived in for generations, and increasingly incapacitated by illness, Christina seemed destined for a small life. Instead, for more than 20 years, she was host to and inspiration for the artist Andrew Wyeth and became the subject of one of the best known American paintings of the 20th century.

NPR American Chronicles: First Ladies

While the role of the first lady has changed dramatically over the course of the nation's history, one thing remains constant: Americans have always been fascinated by the wives of the President. This collection features in-depth profiles of many of our beloved, inspiring, and occasionally enigmatic first ladies, including Martha Washington, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, Betty Ford, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama.

Washington: A Life

In Washington: A Life celebrated biographer Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation. This crisply paced narrative carries the reader through his troubled boyhood, his precocious feats in the French and Indian War, his creation of Mount Vernon, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his magnificent performance as America's first president.

Matriarch: Queen Mary and the House of Windsor

The life of Princess May of Teck is one of the great Cinderella stories in history. From a family of impoverished nobility, she was chosen by Queen Victoria as the bride for her eldest grandson, the scandalous Duke of Clarence, heir to the throne, who died mysteriously before their marriage. Despite this setback, she became queen, mother of two kings, grandmother of the current queen, and a lasting symbol of the majesty of the British throne.

If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?: Relating to and Communicating with Others, from the Boardroom to the Bedroom

The beloved actor shares fascinating and powerful lessons from the science of communication and teaches listeners to improve the way they relate to others using improv games, storytelling, and their own innate mind-reading abilities. With his trademark humor and frankness, Alan Alda explains what makes the out-of-the-box techniques he developed after his years as the host of Scientific American Frontiers so effective.

New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline's world is forever changed when Hitler's army invades Poland in September 1939 - and then sets its sights on France. An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement.

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis - that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating over 40 years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.

Publisher's Summary

Cokie Roberts's #1 New York Times best seller We Are Our Mothers' Daughters examined the nature of women's roles throughout history and led USA Today to praise her as a "custodian of time-honored values." Her second best seller, From This Day Forward, written with her husband, Steve Roberts, described American marriages throughout history. Now Cokie returns with Founding Mothers, an intimate look at the passionate women whose tireless pursuits on behalf of their families and country proved just as crucial to the forging of a new nation as the rebellion that established it.

Roberts reveals the often surprising stories of these fascinating women, bringing to life the everyday trials of individuals like Abigail Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, Eliza Pinckney, Mary Bartlett, and Martha Washington, proving that without our exemplary women, the new country might have never survived.

Social history at its best, Founding Mothers unveils the determination, creative insight, and passion of the other patriots, the women who raised our nation. Cokie Roberts proves beyond doubt that like every generation of American women that has followed, the founding mothers used the unique gifts of their gender (courage, pluck, sadness, joy, energy, grace, sensitivity, and humor) to do what women do best, put one foot in front of the other in remarkable circumstances, and carry on.

What the Critics Say

"Roberts's style is delightfully intimate and confiding....In addition to telling wonderful stories, Roberts also presents a very readable, serviceable account of politics (male and female) in early America. If only our standard history textbooks were written with such flair!" (Publishers Weekly) "Roberts offers a much-needed look at the unheralded sacrifices and heroism of colonial women." (Booklist) "She [Roberts] creates a strong, though perhaps overstated, case that without the patriotism of women on the home front, the Colonies would have lost the Revolutionary War....A series of entertaining minibiographies and engaging vignettes." (The New York Times Book Review)

I found these stories interesting, but not compelling. What I found most interesting was the relationships between the ladies mentioned in this book. But, it was a little hard to follow, and I put it down several times. I enjoyed the author's reading. But I was not inspired to find out any more about these women, which was surprising to me, since I very much like American history.

For an individual who has lived her life with much hard-earned success, Roberts does it again with this heartfelt tribute to some of her hard working predecessors. Through her articulate reading it is conveyed to the reader that Roberts has developed an emotional interest in the amazing women she has brought to consciousness. Overall, what another great gift Roberts has shared with the nation.

First of all, what a treat to hear Cokie Roberts read her book herself. It is a cliche that behind great men stand great women. But these are not romanticized tales of women engaged in heroic deeds. It is one thing to strike out and create an independent life for yourself, it is something completely different to be placed in extreme circumstances by your spouse, with the expectation that you will cope (because that was what women did). As Cokie Roberts says when describing her research on the book, these few stories survive because these women were married to famous men. Women's stories were not considered very important or interesting. With these few examples, during colonial and revolutionary times, what must the lives of the thousands of other wives been like.

Very interesting and informative. Nice to see the mothers being given credit for their part in history. Moving from one mother so quickly to another, especially many that I had never heard of, made the information hard to assimilate. I think I have already forgotten too many names. I probably should buy the book in order to refer back for the information. The anecdotes were interesting and, yes, even fun to read.

Founding mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation by Cokie Roberts was a library book club discussion that was more than well received. Roberts provides a well written and researched novel that gives you more than what you will learn in a school setting. First let me say that I am so grateful that I was not married to Ben Franklin. I was shocked at what many of our founding Mothers endured. The book begins in the early 1700's. It ends when the presidency of George Washington ends and John Adams is elected, in 1797.

I was amazed at how quickly I read this book and how I couldn’t put it down. From a young fifteen year old girl running the farm, businesses and families through the uncertain times of late colonial life. There are stories of women defending their homes from Loyalists, outwitting the British as spies and even fighting on the front lines.

Oh and the story of Catherine Littlefield Greene who suggested to Whitney the use of a brush-like component instrumental in separating out the seeds from the cotton. Oh and it was Greene who provided the money for the invention. My only complaint is that the book is a bit choppy in areas and the author comes off a bit with sarcasm at times. Overall, our book club had a great discussion and enjoyed this novel.